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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Shelby Lynne and Dusty Springfield

Do you have a SOUL? If so, this post is for you!

Betty is a big fan of soul singer Shelby Lynne, but she knew much less about Dusty Springfield until...NOW!

You probably know a handful of Dusty's recordings from the 1960s, such as the Bacharach-penned sex serenade "The Look of Love", "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me", "Anyone Who Had a Heart" (also written by Bacharach, it packs a PUNCH...also recorded by Dionne Warwick to spine-tingling effect), "I Only Wanna Be With You", "How Can I Be Sure?" and of course, her anthem, "Son of a Preacher Man". All of these songs are staples on oldies radio stations and you can see clips of Dusty stiffly but still alluringly lip-synching to them on the Ed Sullivan show on Youtube (I assume).

"Just a Little Lovin'" is Lynne's tribute to Springfield, and yet it does not have the forced-march feel of a typical "tribute album." The album is all songs once performed by Dusty, but Lynne performs them as if they were originals, and the influence and affinity between the two singers is natural and transparent, and far beyond superficial. It is amazing to hear songs you've heard a million times de-horned and de-stringed, and more shockingly, as if for the first time. Lynne's feeling-ful (and yet cool) performances call attention to the SAD SAD SAD lyrics of Dusty's songs, all of which are about "love". To be more specific, many of Springfield's songs are about unrequited love WITHIN A RELATIONSHIP! WHOA! JUST KILL ME NOW, DUSTY! If I could post a song here, it would be "I Don't Want to Hear it Anymore". You can hear it here. ***CORRECTION: One song, "Pretend" is by Lynne, but Betty thought is was a Springfield cover! "I think she would have dug it," says Lynne.

Rumor has it that a Dusty bio-pic starring Nicole Kidman will be coming out in our lifetime. Dusty had kind of a tragic life and was reportedly wracked with guilt about the recognition she received performing soul, the music she loved. She was also British!

Update #2: Shelby Lynne's version of Springfield's "Just a Little Lovin" (the first song from the legendary "Dusty in Memphis" album) is HOOOOOOOT. That's HOT, not "HOOT". But I suppose the song itself could be accurately described as a hoot.